The Overfat Pandemic

Exposing the Problem and Its Simple Solution for Everyone Who Needs to Eliminate Excess Body Fat
by Dr. Philip Maffetone | Skyhorse Publishing © 2017 · 200 pages

Phil Maffetone is one of the world’s all-time great endurance coaches. In addition to coaching the best triathlete ever (Mark Allen), he’s also toured with The Red Hot Chili Peppers as their wellness coach (he considers them endurance athletes) and he’s coached legendary music producer Rick Rubin—helping him Optimize and lose over 100 pounds in the process. He’s a fascinating, iconoclastic guy who’s been preaching the power of burning fat for fuel for FOUR decades—demonstrating that it’s not only an optimal approach to endurance fitness but to our optimal health as well. In this book, Phil focuses his big brain on what he calls the “overfat” pandemic. He uses the word “overfat” to describe people who have “excess body fat sufficient to impair health.” Overweight and obese people fall into this category. AND... Even people at a “healthy” weight can be overfat. In fact, according to his research, 90% (!!!) of Americans fall into the “overfat” category. (Yikes!) We'll take a quick look at why we should care, figure out if we (and/or our loved ones) are overfat, look at the #1 cause and then focus on the solution so we can become optimalfat! :)


New research shows that up to 76 percent of the world’s population is overfat, defined as excess body fat sufficient to impair health. Even people who are not overweight or obese can still be overfat.
Dr. Philip Maffetone

“As it turns out, the number of overfat people is much greater than those who are overweight and obese. Yet something important is missing—a remedy. That’s what this book is about.

In order to understand the remedy for the overfat pandemic, we must consider our food supply. Though our ancestors knew how to eat, today mega-conglomerate food companies sell highly processed junk food to billions of people by convincing them it’s healthy, but it’s not. We’ll call these companies Big Sugar as an industry because they use the same strategy as Big Tobacco—gimmicks, deceptions, lies, and lobbyists to sell their products like illicit drug traffickers. It’s as profitable as the criminal cartels—actually, more. And for a real-life perspective, Big Sugar is more deadly than Big Tobacco.

While rising rates of chronic disease, lower quality of life, and years of dysfunction at the end of the lifespan, not to mention the emergence of genetic mutations, are bad enough, we just have to take a look around to see one obvious problem caused by food: the overfat pandemic. This book can help you escape it, if you choose. My goal is not to convince you that junk food is bad—there is already consensus on that among clinicians, scientists, and almost all of the public—but to give you that extra push you probably need to get through to the other side.”

~ Philip Maffetone from The Overfat Pandemic

I picked up this book as part of my “binge on Maffetone” bonanza. :)

As we’ve discussed in our Notes on The Maffetone Method, The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing, and Fix Your Feet, Phil Maffetone is one of the world’s all-time great endurance coaches. In addition to coaching the best triathlete ever (Mark Allen), he’s also toured with The Red Hot Chili Peppers as their wellness coach (he considers them endurance athletes) and he’s coached legendary music producer Rick Rubin—helping him Optimize and lose over 100 pounds in the process.

He’s a fascinating, iconoclastic guy who’s been preaching the power of burning fat for fuel for FOUR decades—demonstrating that it’s not only an optimal approach to endurance fitness but to our optimal health as well.

In this book, Phil focuses his big brain on what he calls the “overfat” pandemic. He uses the word “overfat” to describe people who have “excess body fat sufficient to impair health.” Overweight and obese people fall into this category. AND… Even people at a “healthy” weight can be overfat.

In fact, according to his research, 90% (!!!) of Americans fall into the “overfat” category. (Yikes!)

He makes his case for why we should care about what he sees as the overfat pandemic and provides his simple solution to the challenge. It’s a quick, compelling read. (Get a copy here.)

It’s also packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share a few of my favorites and share some wisdom we can apply to our lives TODAY, so let’s jump straight in!

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About the author

Authors

Dr. Philip Maffetone

Author, researcher, clinician. Founder: MAF. Teaching LCHF since before 1977.